Srs. Cecilia and Elvira

How lucky am I that I have only been here two weeks and I have already had visitors! Srs. Cecilia and Elvira were in Medellin (another city in Colombian) last week at a week-long Company of Mary strategic planning meeting with Company of Mary representatives from all over the world. When their meeting ended they came to Barranquilla to visit for a few days. It was wonderful. I imagine they both thought I spent far too much time talking to them while they were here, but it was so nice to have old friends around, I couldn't stop talking.



On the day they got here we went on an adventure with Srs. Yvette and Anita. They are both part of the community at El Bosque. We began with lunch at Yvette's parents' home, which is in a country club with a golf course, a lake, a club house, tennis courts, etc. (Their home is next door to the Colombian Minister of Mining, which should some idea of how nice the community is). They live in the nicest community I have seen in Colombia. Hopefully it is obvious from the picture of our break by the pool that their house is very nice.


After lunch, we took a drive around the country club and saw some enormous iguanas. The orangish one is easy to see in the first picture, but the green one in the next picture is camouflaged so well, it takes some effort to find it. I promise it's there.













We then headed to the coast where we visited a small castillo. There are beautiful coastal views from the castillo, as the pictures hopefully show.













Our next stop was a beach town called Puerto Colombia. At one time in Colombia it was a busy port and a beautiful, prosperous city. There was a train that went from the city to all parts of the country. Many years ago, once cars began to be imported to Colombia, the government decided there was no longer a need for a nationwide train system. The trains then stopped running from Puerto Colombia and the port stoppped being used. The city fell into ruins and is now one of the poor areas along the coast.











Please don't judge me too harshly for including the next set of pictures; I decided it was important. As many may know, Shakira graduated from the school where I am teaching. One of the things the school is very good at is taking students to work with the less fortunate. They go to the poorest communities and work with the children in helping them to read, write, and do math. As a student of the school, Shakira took part in these service projects. In one of the neighborhoods, she worked with children who were too poor to even own shoes. Once she became rich and famous, she remembered the barefoot children and decided to use her money and influence to help them. She credits the school for teaching her to care for the less fortunate. She began a foundation called Pies Descalzos, which means barefoot (I think). With this foundation, she built the best school for the poorest children. The pictures do not do it justice. It is amazing. What is also amazing is the number of high profile donors to the project. (I included a picture of one of the donors who has the cafeteria named after him. I am sure all will recognize him.) While Shakira was building the school, she asked the Sisters of the Company of Mary if they would run the school. Unfortunately, they had to decline because their numbers are so few. Instead, they sent one of the teachers from the school to be the principal.

That's all for now. I got through day two of school successfully, but I am exhausted so I need to join the mosquitos that live in my cell.